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Gunnar Bergmann Jónsson, managing director of Hrefnuveidimenn, a minke whaling company, said it is strange that anti-whaling posters are still hanging at Keflavík International Airport in spite of declarations from Isavia, the company running the airport, that they’re not consistent with their ethical regulations.
Whale watching in Iceland. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Six whale watching companies in cooperation with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) are responsible for these posters, one showing a caricature of two whales, a mother and a baby, and reading: “Meet us, don’t eat us.”
Young people in whale costumes have also been walking around central Reykjavík on their behalf, advertising whale watching and campaigning against eating whale, ruv.is reports.
Jónsson stated this is propaganda against a certain industry, whaling and the restaurants carrying whale meat. One of the ads states whales are almost exclusively killed for tourists and therefore they shouldn’t order whale at restaurants.
However, Jónsson explained that 70 percent of the company’s products go to the domestic market; minke whale is mainly bought by Icelanders.
The Sea Baron (Saegreifinn) restaurant at the Reykjavík docks has popular minke whale shish kebabs on its menu. On Thursday the restaurant was packed.
Ragnhildur Jóhannsdóttir, who has worked there for two years, said she has only once received a complaint because of this.
Áslaug Pétursdóttir, an employee of the whale watching company Elding, which is based near the Sea Baron, stated whale watching and whaling don’t go together.
Minke whaling is mostly conducted on Faxaflói bay, which is also where Elding takes tourists for whale watching, she added.
Click here to read more about whaling in Iceland and here to read more about whale watching; a blue whale was recently spotted in Húsavík.
In 1915, women aged 40 and over were granted the right to cast a vote in all official elections held in Iceland.
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Four Icelandic contestants will participate in this year’s World Skills International, the world cup for industrial- and vocational subjects. The competition is held every other year.
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This year’s free English-language travel guide Around Iceland has been released, the 38th year in a row. The guide is also published in Icelandic and German and is distributed in 100,000 copies to the country’s most frequented tourist destinations.
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An international group of divers recently traveled to Þingvellir National Park in Southwest Iceland to explore this unique diving destination. A Polish guide, Michail Zinieuricz, who works for the DIVE.is, led the team of North Americans and a French couple.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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